The precursor to Tibet University were informal classes established by Tibetan cadres in 1951.^[1] In May 1983, the State Council of the PRC officially approved to established the University of Tibet in the basis of the existing Teachers College in Lhasa. Tibet University was formally established on July 20, 1985. Since 1999, the art school of the Tibet Autonomous Region, the Tibet Medical College, the Medical Department of the Tibet Institute for Nationalities and the Tibet Autonomous Region Finance School have been incorporated to Tibet University, giving it a more rounded profile of academic subjects. In December 2008, it was included into the ranks of the national 211 Project of key universities.